It depends on that
willingness, doesn't it?
00:00:03.40\00:00:05.93
Are we really willing
to have the Holy Spirit?
00:00:06.03\00:00:08.27
Do we want Him
controlling our life?
00:00:08.30\00:00:10.31
We have to give up
control if we want the
00:00:10.34\00:00:11.87
Spirit of God controlling us.
00:00:11.91\00:00:13.74
Our author goes on
here in her book from,
00:00:13.94\00:00:16.78
Acts of the Apostles, page 50.
00:00:16.81\00:00:18.65
And this is a fascinating quote.
00:00:18.85\00:00:21.38
It says, "Wherever the
need of the Holy Spirit
00:00:21.42\00:00:25.52
is a matter
little thought of..."
00:00:25.55\00:00:26.89
Now it doesn't
say wasn't thought of.
00:00:26.92\00:00:28.26
But it says it was a
matter little thought of.
00:00:28.29\00:00:30.59
And it goes on to say, "...there
is seen spiritual drought,
00:00:30.63\00:00:35.20
spiritual darkness,
spiritual declension and death."
00:00:35.60\00:00:41.07
The Holy Spirit is
like oil to the lamp,
00:00:41.24\00:00:44.07
it's like water to a plant.
00:00:44.11\00:00:46.04
"Whenever minor matters
occupy the attention..."
00:00:46.68\00:00:50.85
How many church
boards have you been to
00:00:51.25\00:00:52.91
where all they talked
about was the finances?
00:00:52.95\00:00:54.68
Nobody talked
about winning souls.
00:00:54.72\00:00:56.38
Nobody talked about
building up the spiritual
00:00:56.42\00:00:58.99
fortunes of the church.
00:00:59.19\00:01:01.06
No, they talked about minor...
00:01:01.09\00:01:03.12
Oh, finance is
important. Don't get me wrong.
00:01:03.16\00:01:05.66
We have to pay the
bills, we understand that.
00:01:06.16\00:01:08.30
But that's not
why the church exists.
00:01:08.33\00:01:10.13
It exists because
we want to win souls,
00:01:10.33\00:01:16.10
and we want to be
ready for Jesus to come.
00:01:16.14\00:01:18.47
It says, "Whenever minor
matters occupy the attention,
00:01:19.67\00:01:22.58
the divine power which
is necessary for the growth
00:01:22.61\00:01:26.05
and the
prosperity of the church..."
00:01:26.08\00:01:28.62
So if you really
want to grow the church...
00:01:28.65\00:01:30.45
I mean, you can grow in numbers.
00:01:30.49\00:01:31.82
That doesn't mean
you've grown anything.
00:01:31.85\00:01:33.56
You've got to grow
the church spiritually.
00:01:34.59\00:01:38.53
The members must
grow spiritually.
00:01:38.56\00:01:41.16
Yes, we want growth
in numbers, of course.
00:01:41.36\00:01:43.87
But not growth
without spiritual growth.
00:01:44.30\00:01:47.50
Not growth without power.
00:01:47.54\00:01:49.44
It goes on to say,
"...the divine power
00:01:52.54\00:01:54.51
which is necessary for
the growth and prosperity
00:01:54.54\00:01:56.78
of the church, which
would bring," I love this one,
00:01:56.81\00:02:00.18
"all other blessings
in its train, is lacking,
00:02:00.22\00:02:05.15
though offered
in great plenitude."
00:02:05.19\00:02:09.09
Infinite plenitude.
00:02:09.12\00:02:10.46
So the Holy Spirit is offered.
00:02:10.53\00:02:13.50
Jesus wants to
give the Spirit of God.
00:02:13.83\00:02:16.20
The devil doesn't want us
to have the Spirit of God,
00:02:16.46\00:02:18.40
because he knows
that if the Spirit of God
00:02:18.43\00:02:19.77
takes hold of the
church, it will grow with power
00:02:19.80\00:02:23.67
and its members will
be a light to the world.
00:02:23.71\00:02:26.27
Jesus reveals Himself
from the heavenly sanctuary.
00:02:26.51\00:02:29.34
And this is very
important because in the book of
00:02:30.11\00:02:31.98
Revelation we're
going to see Jesus
00:02:32.01\00:02:33.68
moving through the
heavenly sanctuary.
00:02:33.72\00:02:35.95
And He's very busy there.
00:02:35.98\00:02:38.52
He's busy because He's
taking care of His churches.
00:02:38.62\00:02:41.26
So in the midst of these
candlesticks, we see Jesus
00:02:41.36\00:02:44.73
walking and looking and
tending to His churches.
00:02:44.76\00:02:48.43
The apostles said
again and again that Jesus
00:02:48.66\00:02:52.50
sits at the right hand of God.
00:02:52.53\00:02:55.14
And the apostle Paul
also sees Him not only at the
00:02:55.67\00:02:58.91
right hand of
God, but also sees Him
00:02:58.94\00:03:01.24
as the heavenly High Priest.
00:03:01.54\00:03:04.51
Jesus is busy.
00:03:04.71\00:03:06.82
Some time ago I
heard somebody say,
00:03:06.85\00:03:08.98
"Oh, what's Jesus doing now?
00:03:09.02\00:03:10.49
It's not very
important whatever Jesus..."
00:03:10.52\00:03:13.29
I said to myself, "What!"
00:03:13.32\00:03:15.32
I didn't think that person
had read the book of Revelation,
00:03:15.86\00:03:18.83
the book of Daniel.
00:03:19.56\00:03:20.90
It says that God is there with
ten-thousand times ten-thousand.
00:03:21.26\00:03:25.27
That's a million
personal attendants.
00:03:25.30\00:03:27.94
A million.
00:03:28.77\00:03:30.11
We don't know how
many, maybe billions,
00:03:30.21\00:03:32.64
of heavenly angels that attend.
00:03:32.67\00:03:35.34
But they're all
focused, they're all focused
00:03:35.58\00:03:39.28
on the whole
picture of what's going on
00:03:39.38\00:03:43.49
here in planet earth
in this great controversy.
00:03:43.52\00:03:46.69
Now listen to the
apostle Paul in Hebrews 8:1.
00:03:47.06\00:03:51.03
He says, "Now the main point..."
00:03:51.36\00:03:53.66
Now I want to say this.
00:03:53.86\00:03:55.20
The main point is
always the main point.
00:03:55.23\00:03:58.50
"The main point," he says, "of
these things we are saying is
00:03:59.17\00:04:05.71
that we have a High
Priest who is seated
00:04:05.74\00:04:09.91
at the right hand of God."
00:04:09.94\00:04:11.85
So Jesus is not merely
at the right hand of God,
00:04:11.95\00:04:14.52
He's also the High Priest.
00:04:14.55\00:04:16.95
He intercedes for us.
00:04:16.99\00:04:18.95
And that interceding means
that heaven is like a war room.
00:04:19.25\00:04:23.43
And the object of this
war that's going on between
00:04:24.06\00:04:27.40
Christ and Satan that's
being acted out on planet earth,
00:04:27.43\00:04:30.63
the object is you...
00:04:30.77\00:04:33.64
...and me.
00:04:34.37\00:04:35.70
It's a busy place.
00:04:37.21\00:04:38.61
Angels are constantly reporting.
00:04:38.87\00:04:40.71
Maybe they say to
Jesus, "You know, that Jay,
00:04:40.81\00:04:45.18
he needs some help right now.
00:04:45.28\00:04:46.88
The temptations of
the devil are coming in.
00:04:46.92\00:04:48.68
Can you send..."
00:04:48.72\00:04:50.05
And so Jesus orders
this and He orders that.
00:04:50.09\00:04:52.95
If you go and
watch an American war...
00:04:53.32\00:04:56.59
And that's a horrible thing.
00:04:56.83\00:04:58.16
I hate to use that
kind of illustration.
00:04:58.19\00:04:59.53
But the generals
are sitting in a room
00:04:59.56\00:05:02.86
where they are
watching the war in real time.
00:05:02.90\00:05:06.63
Why? So they can give
orders back and forth,
00:05:06.67\00:05:09.37
"Send those tanks this way.
00:05:09.40\00:05:11.11
Send the Air Force this way.
00:05:11.14\00:05:12.87
Send the infantry that way."
00:05:12.91\00:05:14.58
Jesus is doing the
same thing, except this
00:05:14.61\00:05:16.98
is a spiritual battle.
00:05:17.01\00:05:19.21
And it's being waged
over you and over me,
00:05:19.31\00:05:22.55
and over every
person on planet earth.
00:05:22.58\00:05:24.92
Seven billion plus people
the war is being waged over.
00:05:24.95\00:05:29.99
Jesus is sending
His forces to counteract
00:05:30.03\00:05:32.63
the devil and his evil angels.
00:05:32.66\00:05:34.16
He's holding back
the winds of strife.
00:05:34.20\00:05:35.93
We'll talk about
that at a later time.
00:05:35.96\00:05:38.23
Why? So He can save people.
00:05:38.27\00:05:41.40
That's His passion.
00:05:41.74\00:05:43.07
That's why He went
to Calvary's cross,
00:05:43.10\00:05:44.87
was to save people.
00:05:44.91\00:05:46.94
And He's busy in
the war room of heaven
00:05:47.14\00:05:50.78
in the heavenly sanctuary
as the heavenly High Priest
00:05:50.91\00:05:54.28
directing that war
to save you and me.
00:05:54.32\00:05:57.45
What a wonderful
Savior that we have.
00:05:57.49\00:05:59.95
Now the whole book of
Revelation is built around
00:05:59.99\00:06:01.99
the heavenly sanctuary.
00:06:02.02\00:06:03.39
It's built around
Jesus as the High Priest
00:06:03.49\00:06:05.89
moving through
that heavenly sanctuary.
00:06:05.99\00:06:08.73
And I want to say
this, and I say it kindly,
00:06:09.36\00:06:11.67
there are no
more earthly temples.
00:06:11.80\00:06:14.60
I remember on a
visit many years ago
00:06:14.64\00:06:17.07
to the nation of Israel.
00:06:17.91\00:06:20.18
And we had a guide
there and we went up to
00:06:20.21\00:06:22.64
what is known
was the temple mount,
00:06:22.68\00:06:24.95
and today has a
Muslim mosque on it.
00:06:24.98\00:06:27.62
Our guide was
sitting there and he said,
00:06:27.65\00:06:30.65
he's sitting there on something
as he was talking to us,
00:06:30.69\00:06:34.32
and I never will
forget him, he said,
00:06:34.36\00:06:35.69
"You know, this mountain
has caused us a lot of trouble."
00:06:35.86\00:06:38.99
Well that's because people
are so camped around holy hills.
00:06:40.16\00:06:43.16
And I say this kindly.
00:06:43.53\00:06:44.90
There are no more holy
hills, no more temples.
00:06:44.93\00:06:48.54
Yes, we have
places we worship God.
00:06:48.57\00:06:50.47
We understand that.
00:06:50.51\00:06:51.84
But the real
temple, the real temple,
00:06:51.87\00:06:55.38
is in heaven.
00:06:55.61\00:06:56.95
And the real Priest is Jesus.
00:06:57.05\00:06:59.81
Now the devil doesn't
want people to know that.
00:06:59.85\00:07:01.52
Because if they connect
to Jesus as the real Priest,
00:07:01.55\00:07:03.79
they're going to
connect to power,
00:07:03.82\00:07:05.62
real true power.
00:07:05.65\00:07:08.12
So the sanctuary
itself is prophetic.
00:07:08.92\00:07:13.26
And I want to take just a moment
to explain that sanctuary.
00:07:13.29\00:07:18.17
And I just want to do that in a
way so that you can grasp that.
00:07:18.20\00:07:23.07
Use your imagination,
it's not complicated.
00:07:23.10\00:07:25.84
The sanctuary is
laid out in three parts.
00:07:25.87\00:07:28.64
There's the courtyard.
00:07:28.68\00:07:30.21
It has the altar of
sacrifice and the laver.
00:07:30.25\00:07:33.52
That represents
Christ's earthly ministry.
00:07:33.55\00:07:36.28
Anything in that
courtyard could be seen.
00:07:36.32\00:07:39.05
The second part
is the Holy Place.
00:07:39.45\00:07:42.19
Now every time the
priest when in there,
00:07:42.56\00:07:44.63
he disappeared from sight.
00:07:44.66\00:07:47.00
Same with Jesus.
00:07:47.03\00:07:48.36
When He went to the
heavenly sanctuary in heaven
00:07:48.40\00:07:51.00
that contains the Holy
Place and the Most Holy Place,
00:07:51.03\00:07:53.97
He went out of our sight and
we have to follow Him by faith
00:07:54.00\00:07:57.31
just like they followed
them in the earthly sanctuary,
00:07:57.34\00:08:01.21
just like they
followed the earthly priests.
00:08:01.24\00:08:03.08
In that first compartment
is the start of Jesus' heavenly
00:08:03.28\00:08:07.58
ministry that He's in right now.
00:08:07.62\00:08:09.75
And He goes from the
candlesticks, in the book of
00:08:10.05\00:08:12.55
Revelation, to the
table of showbread.
00:08:12.59\00:08:14.76
We'll talk about that later.
00:08:14.79\00:08:16.29
And He also goes to
the altar of incense.
00:08:16.52\00:08:19.13
And then in the end of
time, or the time of the end,
00:08:19.59\00:08:23.53
as Daniel talks about, there
is the final ministry of Jesus.
00:08:23.57\00:08:28.74
And that's in
the Most Holy Place.
00:08:28.84\00:08:31.41
And it has only one
piece of furniture there.
00:08:31.67\00:08:34.28
It's the ark of the
covenant with the mercy seat
00:08:34.41\00:08:36.75
and the Ten Commandments inside.
00:08:36.78\00:08:39.15
The sanctuary is prophetic
of the ministry of Jesus
00:08:40.02\00:08:43.18
and Jesus is moving
in the heavenly sanctuary
00:08:43.28\00:08:46.55
through time headed
for the coming, His coming
00:08:46.59\00:08:50.66
back to this earth
and preparing a people
00:08:50.69\00:08:53.29
to be ready for that time.
00:08:53.33\00:08:55.06
This is why this is so
important to understand.
00:08:55.26\00:08:58.97
The heavenly
sanctuary is the context
00:08:59.20\00:09:03.24
of the book of Revelation.
00:09:03.27\00:09:04.87
It is the context.
00:09:05.07\00:09:06.68
And the context
means everything.
00:09:06.71\00:09:08.04
Listen, if you take
something out of context,
00:09:08.08\00:09:09.98
you can make
something say anything.
00:09:10.01\00:09:11.75
You can give the
Bible a wax nose,
00:09:11.85\00:09:13.82
you can make people say...
00:09:14.02\00:09:15.35
If you just take it
out of context, they say,
00:09:15.38\00:09:16.89
you know, you see politicians
do that all the time.
00:09:16.92\00:09:18.95
They all hate each
other, it seems like.
00:09:18.99\00:09:20.42
I wish they'd be
nice to each other.
00:09:20.46\00:09:21.86
They may have
difference of opinions,
00:09:21.89\00:09:23.46
but people ought
to be nice and polite.
00:09:23.49\00:09:25.49
At any rate...
00:09:26.06\00:09:27.40
And that's true for both
sides of the aisle, by the way.
00:09:27.56\00:09:29.80
And some are, some are nice.
00:09:30.37\00:09:32.20
But my point is simply this:
00:09:32.23\00:09:34.84
If you take something
out of context, you can make
00:09:34.87\00:09:37.31
somebody say awful things.
00:09:37.34\00:09:39.27
But it you put it
back into context,
00:09:39.31\00:09:40.64
"Oh, that's what they meant."
00:09:40.68\00:09:42.04
Well the
sanctuary is the context
00:09:42.48\00:09:45.91
of the book of Revelation.
00:09:46.45\00:09:48.32
And the reason
there's so many wild opinions
00:09:48.55\00:09:51.32
and crazy things that
you read and hear about
00:09:51.35\00:09:55.19
is because people pay no
attention to the context.
00:09:55.39\00:10:01.10
The context is everything.
00:10:01.50\00:10:03.97
And the context is
the heavenly sanctuary.
00:10:04.00\00:10:07.64
So when Jesus finishes His work
there in the heavenly sanctuary,
00:10:07.67\00:10:11.14
He's coming back.
00:10:11.17\00:10:12.61
And that's going to be a
wonderful day when He does.
00:10:12.64\00:10:15.34
But He's busy right
now getting the world ready
00:10:15.38\00:10:19.01
for the final conflict.
00:10:19.05\00:10:20.38
And we'll talk
about that final conflict.
00:10:20.42\00:10:22.65
It's serious
business. The mark of the beast.
00:10:22.68\00:10:24.89
But before I do that, I
want to talk about these
00:10:24.92\00:10:27.82
seven churches
just a little bit,
00:10:27.86\00:10:29.66
because Jesus gave them
some wonderful instructions.
00:10:29.69\00:10:33.09
First of all, He
says to His churches,
00:10:33.50\00:10:35.83
"You know, you're
going to be suffering.
00:10:35.86\00:10:37.47
But don't be afraid.
00:10:37.73\00:10:39.07
I'm the
resurrection and the life.
00:10:39.10\00:10:41.10
You're going to have
powerful temptations,
00:10:41.14\00:10:43.74
but you can be an overcomer."
00:10:43.84\00:10:45.61
In fact, every church
is told to be an overcomer.
00:10:45.64\00:10:48.48
We don't hear much talk
about that nowadays. No.
00:10:48.51\00:10:51.45
Yes, you get the blood
of Jesus, covers your sins,
00:10:51.48\00:10:53.92
gives you a new birth,
but Jesus now empowers you
00:10:54.02\00:10:56.65
through the Holy
Spirit to be an overcomer.
00:10:56.69\00:10:59.02
I don't have time
to get into the depth,
00:10:59.75\00:11:01.09
I'll just give a quick view of
at least some of these churches.
00:11:01.12\00:11:04.43
We'll talk about Ephesus.
00:11:04.66\00:11:06.39
Ephesus, Jesus says in
essence, "I love your works.
00:11:06.66\00:11:09.76
And I love your patience."
00:11:09.80\00:11:11.20
And there's something else
that Jesus loved about Ephesus.
00:11:11.23\00:11:14.20
He says, "You're not naive.
00:11:14.30\00:11:16.60
You're not foolish.
00:11:16.64\00:11:17.97
Your test, you test these
people who say they're apostles.
00:11:18.01\00:11:23.01
You test them by
the Word of God."
00:11:23.04\00:11:24.61
By the way, you must test.
00:11:24.65\00:11:27.62
There's all kinds of people
that say all kinds of things.
00:11:27.65\00:11:29.78
But you need to
test your ministers,
00:11:30.05\00:11:32.15
you need to test speakers.
00:11:32.19\00:11:33.72
You need to test
them by the Word of God.
00:11:33.76\00:11:36.29
And then He said they
hate the false doctrine
00:11:36.59\00:11:39.73
of the Nicolaitans.
00:11:39.76\00:11:41.10
Well I don't have time
to get into the Nicolaitans,
00:11:41.13\00:11:42.46
except the Nicolaitans said,
00:11:42.50\00:11:43.83
"Hey, everything is
going to be alright.
00:11:43.87\00:11:45.20
You don't have to worry
about those Ten Commandments.
00:11:45.23\00:11:46.60
At least not too much."
00:11:46.80\00:11:48.17
Sounds like our world today.
00:11:48.20\00:11:49.77
And Jesus says, "I hate
the doctrine and the teachings
00:11:49.80\00:11:53.78
of the Nicolaitans."
00:11:53.81\00:11:55.98
And then there was the church
of Smyrna, the suffering church.
00:11:56.64\00:11:59.28
Jesus said it would suffer
for ten days, or ten years
00:11:59.31\00:12:02.85
as it were.
00:12:02.88\00:12:04.22
And He says, "You're
growing in your works of love."
00:12:04.25\00:12:06.32
But He says, "There's one
thing you've got going on there
00:12:06.55\00:12:08.96
that I don't like."
00:12:08.99\00:12:11.16
And He says, "You
have some people claiming
00:12:11.46\00:12:13.73
to belong to Me,
but they are not.
00:12:13.76\00:12:17.73
They don't belong to Me."
00:12:17.97\00:12:19.67
In other words,
they're impostors.
00:12:19.70\00:12:21.77
That's another
form of blasphemy.
00:12:21.94\00:12:23.44
They're putting themselves
in the place of Christ.
00:12:23.47\00:12:25.81
For the sake of time, I want
to go to the Laodicean church.
00:12:26.31\00:12:29.64
The Laodicean church,
as we all know, is called
00:12:30.15\00:12:32.55
that lukewarm church.
00:12:32.65\00:12:34.55
It needs eye salve,
it needs a lot of things.
00:12:34.85\00:12:37.59
And Jesus comes and
He makes an appeal to it.
00:12:37.79\00:12:39.92
He says, "Behold, I
stand at the door and knock."
00:12:40.02\00:12:43.69
Time is running out
for the Laodicean church.
00:12:43.73\00:12:46.29
Earlier in the sermon on
the mount, Jesus would say,
00:12:46.33\00:12:49.03
"Ask, and it
shall be given to you;
00:12:49.06\00:12:50.57
knock, knock, and it
will be opened to you."
00:12:50.67\00:12:54.17
But now instead of us
knocking, Jesus is now knocking
00:12:54.20\00:12:58.31
on our door.
00:12:58.34\00:12:59.81
Why is He knocking on our door?
00:12:59.84\00:13:02.18
It's because
time is running out.
00:13:02.28\00:13:04.58
And He makes the most grand
promise of all the promises
00:13:04.68\00:13:08.35
to the seven churches.
00:13:08.38\00:13:09.72
He says, "If you'll just
open the door, I'll come in."
00:13:09.75\00:13:12.99
Let me tell you, turn off
all this stuff that's going on
00:13:13.02\00:13:15.46
in your life, all this busyness.
00:13:15.49\00:13:17.39
Open the door to the
Savior, invite Him in.
00:13:17.49\00:13:22.40
It's the most
precious of all promises.
00:13:22.43\00:13:25.07
There's nothing so wonderful
like having Jesus in your heart.
00:13:25.10\00:13:31.34